233Processes for Production of Chemicals from Carbohydrates
9.4 PRODUCTION OF FURAN DICARBOXYLIC
ACID VIA FURANIC INTERMEDIATES
Where the acid-catalyzed dehydration of pentoses gives rise to furfural as described
above, the similar dehydration of hexoses gives rise to a group of chemicals called
furanics, of which hydroxymethyl furfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) are
the most commonly observed compounds. Both compounds have been identied
by Werpy and Petersen
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as important building blocks of the future. HMF has
recently received a lot of attention as it can be oxidized to obtain furan dicarbox-
ylic acid (FDCA), as starting monomer in the production of polyethylene furandi-
carboxylate, or PEF, a fully bio-based material suitable for w